A-Z of Porn. ‘E’

Understanding porn without actually having to watch it. E is for ‘ebony’, ‘European’ and ‘Emo’*

(*I don’t know what that is)

Ebony

Ebony is a weirdly old fashioned (and many would say disrespectful) word to describe black people. So this category is for people who want to see black performers having sex with each other or with people of different races. There are other categories of porn referring to different races too, such as ‘Asian’ or ‘Latina’.

Much of this is like any other porn but specifically features people from a particular race. Some people may find it more of a turn on to watch porn of a similar race to them (so they can imagine it’s them in the scene too maybe). Others may find it a turn on to help them fantasise about having sex with someone very different to their own race or the race of their partner.

There is a concern that some porn featuring black people focusses just on their race rather than them being sexy performers who are also black. Some people argue that this ‘fetishises’ race and treats it as something which is out of the ordinary rather than just normal (it’s not just white folk who have sex, so deal yeah?). Much of the porn world also faces criticism for being made by white men for other white men and, because of this, how black people (or any people of colour) are shown isn’t very realistic.

Many people are very critical about how porn sometimes uses racial stereotypes in order to sell porn, especially with the storylines and titles of the films. This is something which often happens in interracial scenes, which often feature a black and a white performer. Sometimes these stereotypes are to do with the kind of sex that they have or the ‘job’ or role that these races are meant to play. Common stereotypes present black men as people to be feared or wary of – often they may be in a gang, or might be represented as being aggressive, only into sex (though this is porn yeah), or having very large penises which may be damaging or painful. Or ‘asian’ women are often shown as being passive and delicate, for instance. (This interesting article discusses some of the attitudes towards doing interracial scenes in the porn industry.)

There’s a lot of debate within the porn industry about whether it’s ok or not to use racial stereotyping in this way. Interracial porn is a category which is increasing in popularity. Many people say that using racial stereotypes and racist storylines is unacceptable and can lead to more racism. Others say that people watch and buy this porn because they know it’s wrong and that this is a turn on for them. A number of performers and porn producers are black yet produce some of this porn which is very stereotypical. So they might argue that they are reclaiming some of these stereotypes in order to give themselves power and clout in an industry which is ‘white’.

What do you think about this? Does porn have a responsibility to not produce racial stereotypes? How is race presented in other media? How are non-white people shown in society generally?

For further reading about this debate try this article by (valued friend of Bish) Violet Blue. Also check this really interesting piece by Sinnamon Love about her experiences as a black porn performer.

Still want more? Try also the work of Dr Mireille Miller-Young or try and get a copy of the Feminist Porn Book by Tristan Taormino

(thanks to @cindygallop @DrMireille @msnaughty @pandorablake @sinnamonlove on the twitters for their help with the links)

European

European refers to performers who are European: ie, they live in or come from Europe. It’s not a weird euphemism (I don’t think). Porn categories often feature different countries too (particularly UK, or French, or German, or Swedish).

Remember that most porn is American made and most of those very very popular free websites where you can watch porn are American. So having porn performers from a different country or continent may provide a refreshing change to people who are sick of seeing just Americans shagging. Back in the 80s (1980s) Danish and Swedish people had a reputation for producing really sexy porn for instance, so it was the same then for British porn users.

Perhaps also some people find it a turn on to watch porn with people from the same country as them so they feel like it’s more realistic. Someone in Britain might be able to picture themselves shagging a British pornstar for instance because they might one day deliver them pizza or bump into them at the shops.

Also, like above, there might be some stereotypes that the producers of the porn might be playing with (or that the viewer is seeing). French women in maids outfits, German women in Bavarian Beer Keller outfits, British men with bad teeth, strange sideburns and a sarcastic sense of humour, for example.

Emo

Emo refers to porn featuring people who are ’emo’. I’m old so I’m not really sure what that is but I think it refers to young people (though still over 18) with tattoos of emo bands and hair which is dyed or cut in a particular way.

Sadly emo in porn doesn’t mean ’emotional’. So it doesn’t feature couples on beds having a long talk about how much they care for each other, writing each other poetry, or making each other cakes and mix tapes or looking into each others eyes whilst holding the palms of their hands together. That would be awesome.